Hello everyone!!! I am sorry for the long break since my last post. Between a very large amount of things going on at work and a cold snowy winter, I haven't had much time to do any writing! In addition to work, we have been busy in planning and updating things here on the farm so I have some things to share!
I will start off with the meat we picked up today to deliver to one of our long-time customers. I have known this customer from my time in the All Ohio State Fair Youth Choir, which was many many years ago and we have stayed in touch ever since. They decided to get a full steer this time and it was finished up yesterday so we picked it up and delivered it. We are finally getting our breeding figured out and are getting an even better product and much better yields over the last couple of years for the pigs and the cows.
For many years our typical hanging weight at 22 months for a steer was 625#. Last year we averaged 730#/steer at 20 months and this year we are averaging 875#/steer at 18 months. The pictures below are of a porterhouse steak from today's steer. The hanging weight was 813 and he was 18 months old.
I put one of my gloves next to the steak for size reference.
We have made several adjustments over the years. We have improved the hay that we are feeding by completely reseeding all of our hayfields into a solid performing alfalfa grass mix that we bale at the best times as silage hay. The knowledge we have gained over the years is allowing us to produce a high quality highly nutritious that is easily digestible. We also are using a lot more composted manure as fertilizer which adds to the quality of the hay crop produced.
Another change to the feed has been to offer the cattle and pigs free choice of buttermilk. This started as a supplemental feed source for the pigs from our local dairy. It has since blossomed into a great relationship with the dairy and a constant feed supplement for the animals that is natural, low in fat, and high in protein. This change allowed us to move away from the commercial lick tubs as a supplement for the animals and the change has been tremendous as they have a much more balanced diet!
Another major change has been to develop a three-way cross with better genetics. When we were getting started we took whatever cattle we could get and bred them to whatever bull was available. Once we had enough money we invested in a better bull, and then another, and we have now started doing Artificial Insemination with a leased bull for clean up. Between the better genetics and the cross-breeding, we are seeing terrific results. Our best producing cross so far has been Milking shorthorns bred to an Angus bull. The milking shorthorns produce copious amounts of milk, sometimes enough for two calves, which gets the calves growing crazy fast from the start. The calves also are taller giving them a better frame to grow on. The Angus bull gives them the muscle! The end result is a faster-growing animal that grows well on grass.
As I mentioned above and have discussed before, part of the conservation project we did on the farm involved composting manure. When we built everything I thought I had way more space than I needed to do this. The picture below is proof that I was very wrong!
This is the second pile of this size this year. The first I spread right before Christmas. Don't let the picture fool you as this pile is approx 20' wide, 20' tall, and 40' long. My goal is to let it compost all summer and apply after forth cutting as a fall fertilization. However, I will see how things go and I may put it down after second cutting. Everything will depend on whether I can get the chicken manure I want to apply or not.
Another project has been a fencing update for the farm. For years now we have had a two-strand electric fence for the farm. This has worked very well and for many years we had very little issues with the cattle getting loose or breaking the fence. However, two years ago that all changed. We have at least one, and possibly several, cattle who do not respect the fence at all. When I shut off a pasture they break the wire gate and go right back in. The breaking point, literally the breaking point, was reached on Christmas Eve when I was cleaning the barnyard and had the cows on the holding lot. They broke ALL of the fences between the creek and the barn and were running rampid all over the farm. It took three of us an hour to get them all in and they have been locked in the barnyard since.
It was immediately decided that the time had come to upgrade the fences. We contacted HP Fence, who did all the fencing for my parents, and they came to the rescue! Last week they were finally able to install the first portion of our fencing. The first section is the holding lot between the creek and the barn and we went with 5 strand Hi-Tensile fence.
Above is our entrance to bring equipment into the pasture. Eventually, we will have the property line remarked and install a line fence but for now, we are stopping here due to budget restraints and time.
Below we are looking from the cattle crossing into the tunnel for the holding lot. This turned out very well! We squared up the corners of the buffer strip and expanded it a little bit. The buffer strip is now one lot instead of two and with this secure fencing system it will be much easier to manage.
I let the cows off of the barnyard to stretch and get some exercise. They were thrilled and ran around for probably 20 minutes. Then they decided it was time to go across the creek.......till they found a solid gate and very hot very high fences. This was an awesome sight to see knowing the chaos that ensued on Christmas Eve!
HP fence will be back out in a week or so to finish the balance of our fencing. They will be installing some new fence, beefing up our old fences, changing everything over to 3 strand Hi-Tensil, and installing some sweet metal gates so we can effectively control the pasture rotation!
I spoke with Greg at Unkefer Equipment and he went on the search for a Kubota 6 basket, hydraulic fold tedder. He found one at a tremendous price in PA and had it shipped in. I cannot wait to use it. It is hydraulic fold and after the initial setup for height, it shouldn't need to be messed with again short of switching it to a shorter tractor. I demoed a 6 basket carry type tedder last summer and the production rate was astounding. I didn't like the 3-point hitch version as it was too heavy, but, with the size, I was able to cover more ground in three hours than I could with the 4 basket in a day!
The last piece of equipment that I have been debating on upgrading was the baler. As many of you probably already know I got this baler about 4.5 years ago. It is a terrific baler and has served me very well. It is in need of new belts and has 12,400 bales on it already, I bought it with 3300.
The tipping point for the decision to upgrade came from feeding the extremely thick and tall first cutting we made last year. Due to the length, we are seeing a lot of waste by the cows, even with our high-efficiency feeder. To give you an idea of what is happening, imagine eating full-length spaghetti, without a fork, while standing about 12 inches away from the kitchen table. What happens is, as you take a bite and pull, a lot of spaghetti is pulled off of the plate with the bite you took and falls on the floor. While you are chewing the extra that is hanging out of your mouth falls on the floor as well. Then you trample it because you are trying to eat from the same plate as 45 other people! Now there is a solution!
Introducing the solution! When I went to pick up my new tedder I found it parked right next to a "barely used" BR 7060 Crop Cutter round baler. This is the baler I wanted when I got my BR 740 but couldn't afford the $45,000 price tag! This unit, however, is only a couple of years old and has only made 3386 bales. When I bought the BR750 it had made 3393.
The decision maker for me was that this one has been kept in the shed when not in use, like mine, and was very very well maintained and not damaged. It also just had a brand new set of endless belts installed on it! These belts, if properly used, should last 14000 bales! To top it all off, this baler cost me 50% less than new but is basically brand new!
What makes this baler superior to my old one is the processor! If you look closely at the picture below you can see the knives sticking up from the bottom and the fingers fo the feed roller that shoves the hay thru the knives into the bale chamber. With all 15 knives installed you end up with a finished cut size of around 2.5-3' in length. This should greatly reduce feed loss like we are experiencing now. It will also improve digestibility of the hay due to its shorter length.
Now, the only decision is which hat do I wear when spring finally gets here?!?!?!
I can say that I was heavily leaning towards a new Kubota baler with the processor on it. But, my final decision was swayed by the price and the fact that I am familiar with the New Holland product and it has served me well. Until there is a Kubota baler that I can demo and test before I buy it I cannot justify making that change.
I hope everyone has made it thru winter without any major issues. I am very much looking forward to spring and being able to shed the winter coat.....and my beard! Our deadline for finishing the fence is mid march as calving season is very fast approaching and I need everyone on pasture for that. We lost a lot of calves last year simply due to the mud and mess that they had to trudge thru every day. with the new fences, the walkway repairs I made last year, and shifting calving to April instead of March, we should see much better results this year! We are currently expecting 24 calves this spring/summer. 14 of them are due between the third week of April and the second week of May. The other 10 are all due on or around my Birthday in July!
Let's hope for a quick and easy calving season and 100% success rate!
Have a great day everyone! It is forecasted to be sunny and almost 50 today so I plan to go out and have a fire in the fire pit and enjoy the day!
Kenny
